


THE EXTREMIS EFFECT

by Gingerfloss, mystmoon



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Do not read if you haven't watched the third movie, Extremis, F/M, Spoilers, seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-30
Updated: 2014-07-15
Packaged: 2017-12-10 01:08:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/780024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gingerfloss/pseuds/Gingerfloss, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mystmoon/pseuds/mystmoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s something Pepper’s keeping secret from the most important man in her life. Based after the events of IM3. If you haven’t seen the film, DO NOT read this, there are huge SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prelude

My world has changed more in the last few days than it ever has before. Of course there have been alien invasions and attacks before. Apart from the one in New York, there was the trouble with Stane and then Hammer, not to mention making friends with the Avengers. Usually the attacks and the aliens focused on Tony Stark, I was just standing in the background and keeping the company together, it’s been me mopping up his wounds and cleaning up the messes when he comes home. This time was different, this time the nightmares came after me.

I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. Nothing’s been the same since Extremis and “I can’t protect the one thing I can’t live without.”

Before I set it on fire.

Tony said those words to me so flippantly, as if they were just a statement of fact. He can’t live without me. It’s probably true, he doesn’t remember his social security number or his own phone number, nor can he cook or clean but to me, it meant more than I love you. He’s said I love you to a lot of things, his whiskey, his bots, JARVIS, the car; I could keep going with the list of inanimate objects that Mr Stark loves. I’ve never wanted to be another object, another thing he just ‘has’, but his declaration to me was the thing keeping me strong whilst I was strapped down waiting for him to save my life.

He’s never realised it’s exactly the same for me. I need him just as much as he needs me. Without Tony Stark and everything he’s done for me, I would still be just another office girl like I was before he met me. True, I can look after myself, a multi-billion dollar company and two cats, but emotionally there is nobody else who can make me feel that way. I’ve had boyfriends, girlfriends, been engaged a couple of times and made more mistakes with my relationships that Tony has, but every time it’s all come back to the same thing, I am in love with my boss.

I need him just as much as he needs me, and there’s nothing that can change that.

Unless this thing I'm full of really does take over. Tony thinks I’m okay, he thinks he’s gotten rid of the virus and I’m back to being his honey. I daren’t tell him it didn’t work. I can feel the stuff inside me, it’s like fire constantly waiting inside my body, ready to burst the moment that someone gets too close or tries to touch me. My temper seems to have a lot to do with how well I can control it, when the smallest thing frustrates me, my skin starts to burn the colours of fire, but I can’t feel it. I can’t really feel anything.

I’m going to have to work out how to control it. I don’t want to become one of the things that my boyfriend wakes up screaming about in his sleep. Tony is still having nightmares, but so am I. He wakes up shaking and shouting for me, but it’s not as bad as it used to be. At least now he doesn’t summon the armour in his sleep anymore, since he destroyed it all whilst holding me in his arms. That moment was so perfect; I was safe for the very first time. He makes me feel safe; even though I do nothing but worry about him, it does make me even crazier about him.

I wish I could sleep without dreaming of that night. Burning flesh and metal and me. I don’t even really remember what I was doing. I just remember the sound of metal on what was once flesh, and the weight of the thing in my hands, suddenly replaced by the cold metal of the Iron Man armour.

I can see why Tony needs that stuff. The sudden rush of power it gives you, and the feeling of being protected by something so strong. Now I understand what’s addictive about being a superhero. I should really get myself one.

Or I should talk Tony back into building one to keep himself safe from what I’ve become.

I’m the creature from his nightmare. And I don’t know how to stop it.

I don’t think I can.

{{Extract from The Diary of Virginia Potts. January 2014}}


	2. Motion

mo·tion  (mshn)n.

 

1\. The act or process of changing position or place.

 

2\. A meaningful or expressive change in the position of the body or a part of the body; a gesture.

 

3\. Active operation: set the plan in motion.

* * *

 The house in Malibu had been declared completely unfit to live in, there was no house to live in, just empty space after Killian's men had destroyed it so readily. It had been one of the first things that they’d both agreed on in a long time. The first few days were spent living between hotels and department stores (when Pepper had insisted that he needed something to wear that wasn’t covered in blood and grime, and that she couldn’t live in a sports bra and ripped pants any longer) until they’d both come on the conclusion that it was time to move.

 

The Avengers tower seemed like the most suitable place to go, at least until they could get their own home back in L.A. Tony had consented to sell off the land the original house had been built on before his girlfriend had had to ask, signing away the land to a development company. Technically the tower that Stark had had built in the middle of Manhattan was still their property, it just happened to house superheroes as well as the reminder of Stark International and more R&D labs (in Pepper’s opinion, it couldn’t be a Stark Building unless it had some sort of research lab hiding inside it.)

 

Part of why Tony wanted to get away so quickly was to make SHIELD shut up about leaving himself with no protection out in the open and how he and Miss Potts should be in their custody until they had managed to debrief them properly about what happened. Since everything that had happened, it seemed that everyone wanted to know the details, and suddenly what had been a frankly messy attempt to save his partners life using half a hardware store and a stolen gun had become an epic battle between himself and the Mandarin. He still couldn’t quite say the name without smiling; that should have given it away in the first place; respectable super-villians didn’t name themselves after fruit. No matter how many time Pep insisted that it was something mystical and Chinese he still believed Killian had just looked in a fruit bowl and decided on it.

 

“He could have always been named the Banana.” Tony pointed out to the woman beside him as they walked across the airport terminal, (that the villains had kindly decided not to blow up,) to his private jet (which they had also refrained from blowing up for some reason).

 

“No he wouldn’t.” She pointed out with a very direct sigh, pulling out her phone and running her finger across the touchscreen, scrolling through another list of emails.

 

“Or the Apricot.”

 

“No.”

 

“Or what about the Strawberry? That one would have scared you. He could have threatened you with his iodine pips of doom and red paint splurge guns.” He teased, shaking her hand a little and trying to get a reaction from her. Pepper was too engrossed in her emails to really take any notice of what he was going on about this time. Unlike him, Virginia Potts still had a company to run, and a lot of very personal press issues to clean up.

 

The pointed sighs and disdainful looks still didn’t seem to be working as they boarded the plane, still accompanied by two new bodyguards that had been hired as suitable extra protection, and checked out as clean and fit enough by her head of security and three flight attendants Pepper didn’t realise they needed: “We’re already late, why don’t you try coming up with a new superhero name for yourself? That should keep you occupied on the flight.” She suggested, sitting down in the nearest seat and balancing her phone on the tablet, leaning down to pull out her SPad.

 

“I was hoping you’d do that.” Tony muttered, leaning in behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him, nuzzling into her neck.

 

"I have work to do." She pointed out, only just managing to slip the clear acrylic panel in her hands in-between their lips, stopping the kiss Tony was obviously about to place on her, gazing straight up at him: "So do you." Pepper liked kissing him. It was something he was incredibly good at, he just hadn't quite managed to work out when was a good time to kiss her, and the whole idea that he could technically do it whenever he wanted even after all these months was still slightly scaring her.

 

Part of Virginia’s mind was still very certain about what she'd told Maya, that she'd been right to get out after one night. But as he pulled away, scowling and complaining loudly, running the usual right hand through his dark hair, she couldn't help but be reminded secretly why she was still sat here watching his ass as he marched off down to the flight deck.

* * *

Anthony Stark was definitely not the most handsome man in the world according to Pepper, Steve Rogers was more like the kind of prince she had always dreamed about, tall and blonde with huge eyes and the strength to sweep her off her feet. A mechanic, with slightly more fat than muscle that was almost five inches shorter than she was, had never quite been what she was daydreaming about in third grade.

 

Virginia Potts wasn't quite the most beautiful woman Tony had ever met, not that he would ever dare to say it to her face. She was grumpy, moody, slightly too tall and was far too skilled at talking down too him and making him feel like a disobedient three year old. And she was ginger. All his hopes of marrying the entire playboy back-catalogue in one Vegas night would never be satisfied now.

 

But, to each other, they were perfect, no matter how much they needed to argue on a daily basis or risk everything for each other.

 

The flight hadn't turned out how Mr Stark had been hoping, She'd managed to finish her work within ten minutes and promptly collapsed asleep on his shoulder, his dreams of finally managing to make her join the mile high club yet again dashed.

 

Tony sighed, leaning back and running his hands through her hair, splaying the orange between his fingers. Thankfully the flight was calm enough to keep her lulled, she hated flying. That was one thing the billionaire had finally discovered about his partner, she kept a lot of secrets from him. Mid-morning sun was already pouring into the plane, spilling through the window onto his sleeping lover as he kissed her cheek, letting her slip down onto her lap. He still hadn't told her the true story of his airborne barrel of monkeys; the media had their own version of the death defying tale that had saved people’s lives. The reporters didn't know how terrified he'd really been, sat in a cupboard with his only remaining trace of modern Stark tech pressed to his temples whilst Rhodey commandeered the boat as far away from Trevor and his house of crazies as possible.

 

Saving her life had been the scariest thing he'd ever attempted to do. Pepper was the only woman he would ever have considered doing that for, throwing everything away just it make her feel safe and loved again.

 

Pepper shifted on his lap, yawning and mumbling something completely incoherent under her breath, it was probably directed at him. She always denied it but Tony had noticed her sleep talking when he had been struggling to sleep months ago. Flights never seemed to last long enough when he was actually enjoying them, before they knew it, then plane had landed and they were being herded around again.

* * *

"Can we do anything without the press seeing?" Tony wondered aloud for the millionth time, waving his hand yet again at the herd of hormonal teenagers that were following the press around. The billionaire’s other hand had somehow found its way around his ginger PAs, lacing his fingers between hers as the bodyguards attempted to part the crowds. Pepper hated PDA, and Tony holding her hand in public had spent a very long time at the top of the list of ways to reserve yourself a night on the sofa. Since the 'incident" she'd started letting him, every time pretending that she hadn't noticed the affection.

 

Right now she was too busy concentrating on staying calm to speak to him. Since the day she'd started working with him years ago, she'd had the press to deal with. Usually she managed to deal with them, keeping her temper and a level head whenever they decided to interfere or start asking awkward questions. Today seemed to be the exception to the rule. She kept her gaze on the floor as he took the lead, whatever he was trying to say going over her head like water. She was too focused on convincing herself to stay calm, and she could already feel the heat within her begin to burn like fire in her veins. Having an attack now. An attack in front of Tony and the press after the whole world has been singing his praises for finding a way to cure her would destroy his reputation, and probably burn him and everyone else in the process.

 

Taking a deep breath, Virginia focused on keeping one foot in front of the other, making a mental note to hire some more bodyguards for these situations.

 

"Pep, you okay?" Stark muttered when he noticed her lack of reply, tightening his grip slightly. The woman beside him looked up slightly, faking a smile and trying to keep in control, ignoring the sweat and clamour of so many bodies so close together.

 

"I'm fine, can we go? Please?" She had to stop herself from almost punching one of the male reporters as he got to close, instead opting to gently push him back with her outstretched hand.

 

He was new to the game, she suddenly realised as he closed his grip around her wrist, using his advantage to pull her around to face him, their noses almost touching.

 

He was blonde and smartly dressed and not much older than her. Before Pepper could think, her brain was screaming, grabbing for him with her free hand by the throat, his similarities to that man the only thing she could see.

 

There was an almost audible gasp as the CEO tightened her grip, the unfortunate man’s feet suddenly starting to leave the tarmac, golden power starting to swell under the skin of her left hand, raising the kill a little more, the blood coursing from his cheeks as the pressure increased. Heat was already searing though her flesh, scorching the material in her hand as she tried to keep hold of her own mentality, screaming inside her own head.

 

Tony Stark hadn't noticed until it was slightly too late, yelling something that didn't quite hit her ears as she held her kill. He charged back to her side, grabbing for her. Luckily, even whilst the molten fire was expanding through her veins he could still pull her hands off, catching a glimpse of the red staining his partner’s eyes for a microsecond. The unlucky victim collapsed to the floor in a heap, scrambling away on hands and knees, the rest of the crowd just staring.

 

"Whoa. What did he say? It was that much worse than me on a good day?" He asked, half joking, half serious as he pushed his hand under her chin, checking her and concentrating on her eyes a little too long. They were still the same perfect blue green they always were, he realised in relief, he must have been imagining it. After everything that happened he had already decided his panic was justified. Pepper had a temper and he knew it, everyone who had spent more than five minutes with her did, he'd just never seen her behave like that before.

 

"H-he looked like..." The woman muttered her own panic at what had come over her mixing with the crocodile tears that always apparently worked in these situations; photos of her crying were much less horrific that of her attempting to kill someone for touching her. The camera bulbs were flashing before she'd had to request it, the CEO of Stark Industries crying was more world exclusive worthy than her attempt to murder a man for touching her. Virginia Potts had just almost shattered her ice queen exterior.

 

She knew she'd be glad of her own PR abilities in the morning.

 

Her explanation was all Tony needed to start to hear before he pulled her into his arms, burying himself into the crook of her neck, kissing it and shushing her. The press had at least had the sense to disperse once they had what they needed, leaving the couple in each other’s arms as she tried to stop herself shaking, the fake tears had already won his heart for her. The air fell silent for a little while, Pepper trying to loose herself in his warmth, still reeling in horror from what had just happened.

 

They stayed silence as the limo pulled up, collapsing into the back and slamming the door on the rest of the world. Stark had somehow just about managed to keep hold of her, pulling her down into the leather and keeping her in his arms: 'Virginia." His voice hardened, catching her gaze and almost glaring at her: his calloused hands still wrapped around her manicure "What happened?"

 

The atmosphere seemed to thicken until you could cut it with a knife, gazing into each other’s eyes.

 

"I-I don't know." She tried to explain, backing away slightly under his gaze: "He just....Killian and I panicked and...You’d gone....like last time..." Her gaze broke his, refocusing on the floor and not bothering to clear the tears away, wishing that her head would stop shrieking. How could she be reducing herself to lying to Tony? Pepper could just tell him exactly what happened.

 

Glancing up again she caught his expression, the accusation gone as he pulled her close again, kissing her forehead gently: "Pep...He's gone." Tony pointed out, tracing his hand down her cheek: "You saw to that, Killian’s never going near you again. He’s dead." Tony sighed, weaving his hand into her hair and gazing over at her, ignoring the sour taste her explanation left in his mouth: "I'll always protect the one thing I can't live without." He muttered, pressing their foreheads together as Pepper’s grip tightened on his hand "I've got your back."

 

((END))


	3. Movement

move·ment n.

1.a. The act or an instance of moving; a change in place or position.

b. A particular manner of moving.

The tower was an imposing building, growing out of the floor like a statement on the skyline that wanted to be noticed, rather like Mr Stark himself. The transformation into the Avengers tower hadn't changed that fact. If Stark Tower had been her baby then the Avengers tower was more like her grandchild, Pepper decided as she stood at the base of it, waiting for Tony to catch up with her.

The building was symbolic, showing of the power and strength of the Stark Empire, and the fact that it housed a group of superheroes and all their playthings just enhanced that fact. Avenger's tower was giving the people of New York hope, and making them feel protected. It scared Pepper more than it inspired her.

"How about fifteen percent?" The voice behind her offered, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close, resting against her: "Three more than last time?"

"At least half" She pointed out, glancing over at him: "We're dating."

"We where before!" Tony pointed out grumpily, leading her up the path and pretending not to notice the shadow behind them: "seventeen percent, I'm feeling generous."

"Thirty."

"Twenty? Come on Potts that's like a fifth."

'Twenty-five." Secretly they both enjoyed this game; neither of them could quite work out why. Pepper smiled slightly as she watched him pause for half a second, thinking up a retort. Tony was one of the sharpest people she'd ever met; the sarcastic comments seemed to flow out of him like water from a river.

"A quarter?" Tony asked, giving her a very long look as they kept walking, scanners blipping as the main doors swung open.

"Its more than you gave me last night." She pointed out with a smile that almost reached her eyes, disappearing into the tower and leaving him to work out exactly what she meant.

Much to Peppers surprise, Avengers Tower was clean and reasonably tidy, secretly she'd been having visions of the place looking like a bachelor pad crossed with a labatory, owned by people with more money than sense. She always managed to forget that Tony was the only one that seemed to think money could be treated like paper. The interior looked much more impressive now it was finished than it had when she and Tony had left to continue operations in Malibu, last time Pepper had been here the place had still reeked of paint and plaster. The theme, in true Stark style appeared to be white and chrome with a good dose of his own Technology just so you didn't forget who to be grateful to.

Smiling to herself she wondered up the stairs, running her hand flat against the wall with her eyes closed. She always had had a habit of enjoying things in life that where unimportant to other people. Flowers, morning dew, summer breezes when the wind blows through her hair and makes the morning a little brighter. Sometimes she wondered if it was how she got through each day.

As much as she hated the thought of being here in part of her mind, but the other part of her mind was looking forward to it. Being on your own with Tony was… difficult at times. He had a horrible habit of forgetting that he was supposed to spend time with her every week and not just his experiments. Pepper had been forcing herself to put that frustration out of her mind. Accidently activating extremis because of your boyfriend being a pain in the ass was probably not going to be an acceptable reason if she offered it to SHIELD.

He wasn't following her, but she'd been expecting that since the shadow had reviled itself by throwing its arms around Tony and making him jump. She'd stopped asking about how his (or anyone's) relationships with all the Avengers worked, one minute they were friends and the next they were gone off on a mission to the other side of the world and hated the sight or mention of each other's names.

Her explorations lead her to the top of the flight of stairs, reaching the level that according to JARVIS was property of Mr Stark himself. Luckily the entire tower was loaded with Tony's personal AI system and had he'd managed to fix the system so that it could actually talk properly again, as much as everyone had found the interjections of cranberries and teaspoons whenever the poor thing had tried to manage a full sentence. She'd had no idea that he'd linked the suit into the house itself and caused himself a massive security risk, she made a mental note to give him a lecture on that when she next managed to keep hold of him for more than ten minutes without getting distracted by his body or his latest idiotic idea or someone interrupting them.

Pushing the door open she sighed, gazing around at the amount of mess piled up in assorted places and the rest of the rubbish. It was like walking into a teenage boys room! Lips set in a scowl she slipped her hands thought her hair, brushing it up into a ponytail on the back of her head and pushing up her sleeves, maybe a little bit of manual labour would be a good distraction from what she would have to clean up before the press got too much information. Pepper had honestly never thought that she would have to clean up the fact that she'd almost chocked someone to death with just one hand. It would matter how many times Tony joked about it or tried to make light of the issues, she was still terrified of what she'd done. It had been so long since she'd felt power like that. Like it wasn't her and that she could do whatever she pleased.

It seemed the longer she had the extremis inside her the more she could understand it. To the right person, especially those like the ones that Killian had picked as test subjects, all with disabilities or injuries the sudden sense that you could actually make something of yourself, that you could be physically powerful again or for the first time.

She just had to make sure that didn't happen again.

The status of the unimpressed ginger woman that had just disappeared off somewhere after attempting to convince him to give up more of another of his life works that he could afford to give her had dropped a few levels in Anthony Starks mind the moment he'd felt a pair of arms close around his neck from behind. Sadly there was only one of the avengers that would possibly think that that attacking him was a good idea.

Only because Clint Barton knew that Tony didn't physically have the strength to throw him off or do anything about it. Growling a little in frustration he tried, flailing in a way that would probably have put the entire male race to shame, but Hawkeye wasn't actually that interested in his rebellion, just in the fact he was actually back in the tower.

"Did you forget to take someone important with you?" The blonde suggested, the usual grin plastered across his face, stepping back to rest his ass on the banister rail, one foot pressed back against it and trying to give off the air of someone that didn't care.

"Take who with me?" Stark asked almost innocently, scowling at the other: "You? Thought birds didn't like their nests being moved?"

"Don't like being left on house sitting duty much either." He grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest almost childishly, pulling up his other leg to sit on the rail properly, and scowling at him: "Ya could've called when you found out something was wrong with your girl at least, I could've helped. You're not the only one that cares 'bout her-"

The darker haired stopped, thinking about what the other had just mentioned. In truth, he'd actually forgotten that he could have just called the Avengers to help when Pepper was taken, he'd been so used to fighting his own battles on his own the thought that he had back up didn't even cross his mind.

"-Natasha went swanning off on her own adventures with Steve and never called either, Banners being a hippie in a tent without even a phone and even Coulson's got a new job-"

Tony was about to ignore the others little rant until something caught his attention: "Coulson?!"

Clint almost looked smug, shit eating grin plastering itself across his lips as he gazed down at Stark: "Yeah? He's still around…. Didn't fur-You're not SHIELD are you?"

"I'm trying to privatise world security, why would I be?" Stark pointed out almost incredulously, wishing the other didn't look quite so thrilled to know something he didn't.

"Well," Barton had the air of an announcer that was about to tell him he'd won the lottery: "He's back, somehow, your computer picked him up off on an adventure somewhere in a tiny diner with a chick that tried to hack your systems, dragging the cavalry, a couple of kids and a complete asshole that ditched me on a mission once along with him. Called fury, and apparently they gave him a 'well done for not being dead' plane and a load of boring missions to do."

His last few words where so bitter that Tony couldn't help but notice (storing his overwhelming desire to go yell at fury for bullshitting him and the rest of the avengers into saving new York and the guilt that he'd been feeling because of it for the past year for later.) He'd been getting better at actually listening to how people said things after starting to date Pepper, even though she was surprisingly good at lying: "Didn't they give you something else to do?"

"Apparently, staying here is a mission." He shrugged, rearranging his face again into an expression that didn't look quite as smug: "I just have to wa-"

Whatever he was about to say next was cut off by a crash and a shriek from above them that Tony couldn't help but recognize, the two men barley needed to exchange a glance before running.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment/kudos this for more. The fic will be written in 3rd/1st person and will contain huge spoilers, feels and Extremis!


End file.
